Cantwell to the rescue for Fintan’s
SALESIAN COLLEGE 5-7
ST FINTAN’S HS 4-10
(After Extra-Time)
Daire Walsh – 25 April 2013 10:40 AM
SUBSTITUTE Luke Cantwell was the saviour of St Fintan’s High School at Pairc Barrag.
HIS point two minutes from time ensures that the Sutton school and Salesian College will have to meet again before deciding which of the two teams will progress to the Dublin Schools Juvenile Hurling ‘B’ decider.
Salesians centre-forward Tony Archbold opened the scoring with a long-range point from a free on eight minutes, but Fintan’s quickly responded with their first major of the contest courtesy of full-forward Conor Gibson, who pulled to the net after a shot from distance had dropped short.
Cillian Costello then added to their advantage with a 10th-minute score from a placed ball, but the Celbridge outfit managed to gain a stranglehold with three points on the trot from Archbold and Ciaran O’Regan (two), before Archbold’s third of the afternoon edged them back into the ascendancy.
faded
Fintan’s had faded from the game during this period, but they finished the opening period strongly, as some fine efforts from Kevin Boland and Costello offered them a slender 1-3 to 0-5 lead during the interval. Costello was proving to be a reliable source of scores for the north Dublin side, and he increased his team’s cushion to three with a brace of points from placed ball attempts after the restart.
Costello was once again on target with a point from play after 43 minutes, but their north Kildare counterparts looked like they had received a lifeline when corner-forward Joe Aherne finished brilliantly to the bottom-corner of the net three minutes later.
The excellent Costello cancelled out this score with a three-pointer of his own from a tight left-hand angle, but Salesians were not prepared to throw in the towel, and a 1-1 salvo from industrious half-forward Rory Hanratty restored parity to the game.
Opposing number 14s Gibson and O’Regan proceeded to swap scores in the closing moments of normal time, which meant that extra-time was required with the sides tied at 2-7 apiece.
Fintan’s midfielder Boland got the scoring under way upon the resumption, but they found themselves trailing by eight points towards the end of the first period of additional time thanks to Salesians goals from close-range by O’Regan and Aherne (two).
uphill
This left Fintan’s with an uphill struggle for the remainder of extra-time, but they were galvanised by a Costello major from a 21-metre free just before the break, and they subsequently reduced their deficit to two with seven minutes to play when the alert Gibson pulled to the net after Darragh Kelly’s shot had been batted down by Salesians netminder Warren Conway.
The momentum was now with Fintan’s as full-time loomed large, and Cantwell was in the right place to force a replay from the left-wing moments after Costello had narrowed the gap to the bare minimum.
Scorers – Salesian College: J Aherne 3-0, C O’Regan 1-3, R Hanratty 1-1, T Archbold 0-3 (1f, 1 ’65’) St Fintan’s HS: C Costello 2-6 (1-5f), C Gibson 2-1, K Boland 0-2, L Cantwell 0-1.
SALESIAN COLLEGE: W Conway; D Reeves, P Hogan, S Leonard; A Brennan, P Mortell, A Doran; C Smith, S Lawlor; R Hanratty, T Archbold, L O’Flynn; J Clarke, C O’Regan, J Aherne. Sub: T Fitzgibbon for Clarke (73).
ST FINTAN’S HS: P Tolan; J Fagan, D Brody, S McHugh; K Stanley, C Brady, B Wade; E Meenan, K Boland; A Hyland, C Costello, D Kelly; S O’Flynn, C Gibson, S Grenham. Subs: L Cantwell for Hyland (45), L Bosonett for O’Flynn (50), C Dunne for Wade (53).
Referee: E Walker (O’Toole’s).